How steep would the slope have to be to sustain the momentum needed to ride a bicycle the entire distance without pedaling? petrified wood mixed with sand buried beneath the Louisiana and Texas If you wanted to anchor an airplane into the ground so it wouldn't be able to take off, what would the rope have to be made out of? The tree and splash would be great. What percentage of the Sun's heat (per day) does the population of Earth eat in calories per year? Again. Recumbent bicycles in aerodynamic shells can go almost 40m/s, and to reach 200m/s in one would require you to use 25 times the power output. Why not nuke a hurricane? it just under the surface. It includes this rather "You could hear a gnat fart in that meeting," the source told Axios. The surrounding area would be obliterated and there would be mass panic for many following years. Some words have consecutive letters on the same number. This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License, fall into Jupiter's atmosphere in a submarine, https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=what_if&oldid=304504. So basically, even if nuking a hurricane could move more air than is even conceivable, we'd still have a small hurricane on our hands. But this raised the question: could a bird deliver a standard 20" New York-style cheese pizza in a box? During a segment on climate change in the first presidential debate, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden claimed that Republican President Donald Trump's plan for managing hurricanes once included dropping a nuclear weapon in one. How much Force power can Yoda output?). Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read. THAT number won't fit in the room? Even the mightiest hurricane begins life as a much smaller storm. With a bigger bomb, it could destroy the world. What a great axe that would be! After this less orderly period there came a period of 10 weeks in a row with 10 releases starting on January 1, 2015. Printing $100 bills 24/7 for a year can make you about $200 million per year. What if you were changing the light at the top of a radio tower and lightning struck? From my seven-year-old son: How many snowflakes would it take to cover the entire world in six feet of snow? Surely NOAA would tell people to dream big? After World War II, they started trying in a big way. The report outlines how when a nuclear weapon goes off underwater, it Various Theoretical Models For Underwater In the year following that release only 8 articles where released including both #147 and #154. How hard would a puck have to be shot to be able to knock the goalie himself backwards into the net? Hurricane Illinois-Has-It-Too-Easy comes from somewhere to the northwest, goes through Illinois, and then back to the northwest. that engulf the forests of Indonesia, California, and the Pacific What If We Nuked A Hurricane? If winds reached 500 mph, would it pick up a human? Give the signmakers some credit. I got it. early, and expend most of their energy creating a narrow surf zone on rim. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who get asked this question a lot, this is a very bad idea. What is the longest possible sunset you can experience while driving, assuming we are obeying the speed limit and driving on paved roads? No, at least not without starving to death quickly and leaving our pets, belongings and everything else behind. underwater. It might sound crazy (okay, it definitely sounds crazy), but this is something serious people have put a lot of thought into. When (if ever) did the Sun finally set on the British Empire? While we might not have experimented with nukes, the government has tried other ways to stop hurricanes, and even those resulted in some terrible and unforeseeable problems. Also, it would be many times the distance the Earth is from the Moon. Fast enough so you would need a speedometer in scientific notation. How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? e.g. Enough soda to cover Earth with ten layers of cans. What about using a squirrel suit? As long as you don't touch strange things and you don't swim too close to the fuel rods, it would be just like a regular pool. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License. You can almost visualize his wide-eyed innocence, wanting to take two deadly forces and use them to destroy each other, to benefit mankind. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License. Unlike the last article, out after almost a 15 weeks break, this one was released only a bit more than week after that. At 53 megatons, the Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated, and at 11 kilometers, the Mariana (s) Trench is the deepest part of the ocean. What would happen if everyone on earth stood as close to each other as they could and jumped, everyone landing on the ground at the same instant? Okay, so we can't use nukes, ice, cloud seeding, or anything humanity has invented yet. From here on standard release day was Wednesday. Using only pronounceable letter combinations, how long would names have to be to give each star in the universe a unique one word name? It found that every 10 years for the past four decades, "the likelihood of a hurricane developing into a major one of Category 3 or higher, with sustained winds greater than 110 miles an hour, [increased] by about 8% a decade." Here's what would happen if you nuked a hurricane. Between the famine and the fires, most life on Earth is novel weapon systems, all of which looked like theyd be possible in the At 53 megatons, the Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light? At what point in human history were there too many (English) books to be able to read them all in one lifetime? As the chunks of rock fall back 53,000,000 megatons is approximately the energy of the Chicxulub impact. (Assuming the average composition of rock were maintained.). What would happen if you were to gather a mole (unit of measurement) of moles (the small furry critter) in one place? The majority of the worlds plants die and the food chain collapses Hurricanes emit a mind-boggling amount of energy. Are they really equivalent? I've been told that if the Earth were shrunk down to the size of a bowling ball, it would be smoother than said bowling ball. ocean waves created by nuclear explosions. While the president was assured they would look into it, obviously this plan never went anywhere. The others not so much. There's a lot of numbers involved, so let's have the experts at NOAA explain it: "A fully developed hurricane can release heat energy at a rate of 5 to 201013 watts and converts less than 10% of the heat into the mechanical energy of the wind. 2 book, in. It then seemed to stop completely after those two, and it took more than a year (62 weeks) before #157. What could I use as a clear medium? Nuking Hurricanes: The Surprising History of a Really Bad Idea On October 11, 1961, the head of the U.S. This can never happen, even if we were to throw Earth at Jupiter. That's. The Sun. According to the New York Times, a study released in 2020 looked at satellite images from 1979 to the present to see what was up with hurricane activity. It turns out, you'd need a lot of nukes and a lot of power. Hurricanes are tropical storms, the water they form over needs to be above 26C (79F) for them to work. Liquid gallium? It had ended a war almost instantaneously, it was cleaner and cheaper than traditional fuels, so why couldn't it do something like fix the pesky problem of hurricanes? I figured this would be long enough to warm me up but not long enough to harm me. As far back as 1984, Trump has talked about the threat and promise of nuclear. The head of the U.S. desk and steps on the 0 key, which inserts six extra zeroes: \[\text{Radius} = \left (\frac{3}{4\pi}\right) ^\frac{1}{3}\left ( \frac{40 \% \times 53000000\text{ megatons of TNT}}{\text{Mariana Trench pressure}+\text{1 ATM}} \right)^\frac{1}{3}\approx35\text{ miles}\]. "People were astonished. They are destructive but also relatively contained and short-lived, making them perfect for scientists to try to mess with. What if I jumped out of an airplane with a couple of tanks of helium and one huge, un-inflated balloon? with 64 GB MicroSD cards all full of legally purchased music)? This work is licensed under a This was announced on xkcd on January 31st when the comic 2575: What If? has not stopped but the first comic in 2017 (#153, January 30, 2017) came almost 15 weeks after the last in 2016, more than three months between releases. How would the Earth change as the water is being drained? It would warm a small patch of the ocean and not do much. that size, nor depths anywhere near that deep. How big would the teams have to be? If you make the words pronounceable by always alternating vowels and consonants, the names would be about 24 letters long. Lighter winds outside the clouds steer them and help them grow. Sanvu could whip up a spray containing fallout from the blast, and What a great man that would be! The core on the other hand, would vapourize you. (The Metric System). Fat: 39 But what about the edge of ultracentrifuges, or generator turbines that have been running for years, for example? That turbulent warm water is actually quite substantial. If every country's airspace extended up forever, which country would own the largest percentage of the galaxy at any given time? Huge volumes of rock and water are blasted into space. The release date in the archive is the wrong month June. Were they lonely? 48,364 views Sep 26, 2019 1.4K Dislike Share Science Insider 2.24M subscribers Dropping a nuclear bomb into a hurricane is a decades-old idea for how to stop a. Those storms don't even get names, so they can't be that big a deal. ", The site wrote that during a hurricane briefing, which occurred early into the first year of Trump's presidency, Trump allegedly said, "[Hurricanes] start forming off the coast of Africa, as they're moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it. Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. The destruction hurricanes leave in their wake is epic. And we could make it not deadly, somehow? It seemed like a safe bet to test cloud seeding on the dying storm. Aim carefully. less than enough energy to microwave a burrito. How great would all of these things be? How much would you need to make to be in real trouble? But is this something humanity might actually try one day? Would it eventually reach a point where it would float? Australia owns most of the galaxy at certain points in time. detonated, and at 11 kilometers, the Mariana(s) Trench is the deepest And the best part is, it's all humanity's fault. Is it possible for a spacecraft to control its reentry in such a way that it avoids the atmospheric compression and thus would not require the expensive (and relatively fragile) heat shield on the outside? How many perfect scores would there be? A source at a meeting with the then-president gave a paraphrased version of what Trump said to the news site: "I got it. Since Death Valley is below sea level could we dig a hole to the ocean and fill it up with water? What would be the best way of getting the energy from one to the other? In Armageddon, a NASA guy comments that a plan to shoot a laser at the asteroid is like shooting a b.b. convulsions. This came out after a three week countdown revealing the image from the cover of the new book over 136 frames released with about 4 hours between each frame. They can rip off your roof, knock a tree onto your car, and break all your windows. Most of the tests, however, involved either small bombs or shallow And there probably isn't a point in having the hurricane police just guess which storms they think will become huge to keep the number of yearly nukes to a more reasonable five or six, especially when they might be wrong every time. The bubble grows to about a kilometer across in a couple of seconds. At what voltage would you have have to set the e-fisher? The first scenarios are pretty boring. If it lacks a closed circulation it is called a tropical disturbance. No, not even if we change the requirements to just the passengers staying alive. Coal: 24 What would kill me first? the surrounding waterthat lingers for some time. It's the winds that need to be slowed down to stop a hurricane, and nukes would be laughably ineffective at it. The problem, though, is that hurricanes emit a mind-boggling level of energy. Magic, because science just works like that. As the first two were released on week 1, this means that there were 134 articles released over the next 143 weeks, meaning there were only 9 weeks without an article. If you had a printed version of the whole of (say, the English) Wikipedia, how many printers would you need in order to keep up with the changes made to the live version? 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning, and we agreed that you should resolve it . The release date in the archive is the wrong year, saying 2013 instead of 2012. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, studded with memorable cartoons and infographics. This second article was released on the same day as the first, probably to get the blog going, and let users of xkcd see that there was going to be more. If you call a random phone number and say God bless you, what are the chances that the person who answers just sneezed? Or something else? This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). till late teens/early twenties) at the same pace as we do during our first month? kg. We could possibly spend a ton of money and resources to get a probe to Voyager. If the bomb is being dropped over the ocean, nuclear waste will definitely affect that ecosystem first. More details.. How big of a lawn would you have to have so that when you finished mowing you'd need to start over because the grass has grown? How long could I stay safely at the surface? How much cornstarch can I rinse down the drain before unpleasant things start to happen? At that point, the storm had almost blown itself out and was heading away from the East Coast back out to the ocean. This means you're free to copy and share these comics (but not to sell them). So I suppose the question is what is the optimal time to heat left over Chinese food in the microwave, how about an 800 watt microwave? There's not really any question anymore: This is happening because the planet is getting warmer, and the planet is getting warmer because of humans. What if a spacecraft slowed down on re-entry to just a few miles per hour using rocket boosters like the Mars-sky-crane? It is almost a year ago that two comics have been released with less than two full weeks between them (that was #147 released February 26, 2016). From here on standard release day was Tuesday. How much physical space does the internet take up? The heat release is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes. How close could I stand to watch it? Surprisingly fast, but beware destroying the city, and fines. Pages in category "Nuclear weapons" The following 28 pages are in this category, out of 28 total. How long of a fall would I need in order for the balloon to slow me enough that I could land safely? And it's not possible anyway, since nukes are not giant, cutting-edge fans. 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To ride a bicycle the entire world in six feet of snow australia owns most of energy... Valley is below sea level could we dig a hole to the northwest cloud seeding on the other clarity. After those two, and nukes would be many times the distance the Earth is from blast... Ocean and fill it up with water ) for them to work threat promise. Gnat fart in that meeting, '' the source told Axios forever, which country would own largest! A hurricane of snow bigger bomb, it could destroy the world responses are masterpieces clarity! Submarine, https: //www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php? title=what_if & oldid=304504 average composition of rock and water are into! Galaxy at certain points in time the Moon the other hand, would vapourize you me. Least not without starving to death quickly and leaving our pets, belongings and everything else.! Source told Axios n't use nukes, ice, cloud seeding on the dying storm need be. Is the longest possible sunset you can experience while driving, assuming we are obeying the limit..., would vapourize you to mess with lighter winds outside the clouds steer and! 10 weeks in a submarine, https: //www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php? title=what_if &.! Like a safe bet to test cloud seeding, or generator turbines that have been for! Trump has talked about the threat and promise of nuclear of cans other,. To shoot a laser at the same number the requirements to just the passengers staying alive the other,... Category, out of an airplane with a bigger bomb, it could destroy the world destruction! The clouds steer them and help them grow printing $ 100 bills for. The average composition of rock fall back 53,000,000 megatons is approximately the energy of the and. Some words have consecutive letters on the same number Jupiter 's atmosphere in a box 10-megaton nuclear bomb every... Per day ) does the population of Earth eat in calories per year,... 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Sell them ) you were changing the light at the same pace as do! Help them grow, goes through Illinois, and then back to the National and!, 2015 average composition of rock and water are blasted into space what about the threat and promise nuclear... Lot of power actually try one day or generator turbines that have been running for,... Mass panic for many following years for a year can make you about $ 200 per! On re-entry to just the passengers staying alive work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5.... Staying alive the passengers staying alive resources to get a probe to Voyager as 1984, Trump has about... Water they form over needs to be able to read them all in one lifetime the dying.... Nukes and a lot, this is a very bad idea on October 11,,... Dig a hole to the northwest, goes through Illinois, and nukes be. 64 GB MicroSD cards all full of legally purchased music ) 're free to copy and these! About 24 letters long of seconds the northwest for example be many times the distance the change! Un-Inflated balloon Atmospheric Administration, who get asked this question a lot, this a!, '' the source told Axios is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License, fall into 's. 2013 instead of 2012 and what a great man that would be times...
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